Message posted by Smythers on August 13, 2020 at 16:01:58 PST:
“The Mayhem System Demonstrator will need to be capable of carrying larger payloads over distances further than current hypersonic capabilities allow,” says the research laboratory. “The payload bay will be modular and capable of carrying or delivering at least three distinct payloads in order to execute multiple government-defined mission sets.” The AFRL is looking for companies to partner into two teams, each which would develop a new propulsion system and vehicle design, as well as a plan to integrate the entire system. The lab wants the Mayhem System Demonstrator to first take flight within a five-year timeframe, it says. It wants the missile body to have a standardised payload interface to make it easier to integrate multiple types of future payloads. The US Air Force (USAF) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are working on an air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile already: Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). The weapon would use a scramjet engine to reach hypersonic speeds. The USAF has said it plans to flight test an example of HAWC in FY2020. A Lockheed Martin-Aerojet Rocketdyne team and a Raytheon-Northrop Grumman team are developing competing designs as part of the programme.
In Reply to: Expendable? Multi-Mission? Hypersonic RFI? One just dropped posted by Smythers on August 13, 2020 at 15:53:42 PST:
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